Tyndrum
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The main road through Tyndrum |
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Tyndrum shown within the Stirling council area | |
OS grid reference | NN 32901 30396 |
Civil parish | |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Crianlarich |
Postcode district | FK20 |
Dialling code | 01838 |
EU Parliament | Scotland |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Tyndrum (i/taɪnˈdrʌm/;Scottish Gaelic: Taigh an Droma) is a small village in Scotland. Its Gaelic name translates as "the house on the ridge". It lies in Strathfillan, at the southern edge of Rannoch Moor.
The village is notable mainly for being at a junction of transport routes. The West Highland Line railway from Glasgow splits approximately 5 miles (8 km) to the south at Crianlarich, with one branch heading to Fort William and the other to Oban. Tyndrum has a station on each: Upper Tyndrum on the Fort William line and Tyndrum Lower on the Oban line. Thus unusually there are two stations serving the same small village, only a few hundred yards apart, but about 10 miles (16 km) apart by rail. Indeed, Tyndrum is the smallest settlement in the UK with more than one railway station. This is partly a legacy of the history of the railways in the area, after two separate railways belonging to different railway companies were built through the village. However, the main reason is geography: splitting the line in Crianlarich allows the contours of the glen to be used to avoid very steep climbs heading north or west from Tyndrum. Roads mirror this division: the A82 from Glasgow to Fort William passes through Tyndrum, and the A85 to Oban splits off just north of the village.